Next Summer's Vans Warped Tour Will Be The Last

Next Summer's Vans Warped Tour Will Be The Last

Genre : More Music

Type: News

Author : Super Admin

Date : Thu, 16 Nov 2017

After 23 successful years, the traveling summer concert series Vans Warped Tour has announced that it will be coming to an end. The announcement comes alongside the release of 37 final dates for the 2018 tour, as well as a possible singular concert some time in 2019 to celebrate the tour's 25th anniversary. A special 'Forever Warped Bundle' package for 2018 tickets will include a commemorative pair of custom Warped Tour Vans sneakers.

The first Warped Tour began in summer of 1995, and Vans added their name and support to the series in 1996. Over 1,700 bands have played to over 11 million people around the world in what has become the largest and longest-running traveling concert tour in the United States. For context, 2017's tour stopped in 39 cities in America, 2 cities in Mexico, and also included the Warped Rewind at Sea cruise.

Tour founder and producer Kevin Lyman explained why he's hanging up his shoes in a lengthy statement on the Vans Warped Tour website. He thanks the many, many people who have made the tour so successful for so long, and hopes that 2018's finality will help to draw back many of the artists who have highlighted the evolution of the tour throughout its extensive run.

Lyman's statement reads:

"I have been a very lucky person to have traveled across the country and sometimes around the world as one of the founders and producers of the Vans Warped Tour. Today, with many mixed feelings, I am here to announce that next year will be the final, full cross-country run of the Vans Warped Tour. I sit here reflecting on the tour's incredible history, what the final run means for our community, and look forward to what's to come as we commemorate the tour's historic 25th anniversary in 2019.

In 1995, I had already worked many years in the music business, including spending four summers on the Lollapalooza tour, and I thought, 'for one summer I would like go out and put on my own show' mixing music and action sports. With the support of so many people, I have now spent the last 23 summers bringing that show to a city near you. We have brought that show to over 11 million people around the world and watched that same world change while doing so.

I have been proud to work with so many artists who have grown to be some of the largest stars in the world. Countless bands have played in hot parking lots and through summer storms for you at some point.

Bands like Quicksand, Sublime, L7, No Use for A Name and No Doubt jumped on in the very first year.

Touring many summers with my friends and peers like – Pennywise, Social Distortion, NOFX, Bad Religion, The Descendents, Less Than Jake, Dropkick Murphy's, The Bouncing Souls, Rancid, Flogging Molly, Anti-Flag and The Offspring are just some of my fondest memories. More include, having Blink-182 travel on my bus in 1997 when the world opened up to them and made them the superstars they are today.

The Vans Warped Tour was the platform to witness the rise of pop punk with Sum 41, Simple Plan, MXPX, New Found Glory and Good Charlotte.

The birth of Emo — with bands like Thrice, Thursday, The Used, Taking Back Sunday, The Starting Line, Motion City Soundtrack and Jimmy Eat World.

Fast-forward to the summer in 2005 when TRL and Warped Tour helped launch the careers of Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance and Avenged Sevenfold.

I witnessed Warped alumni like The Black Eyed Peas, Katy Perry, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, No Doubt and even Kid Rock play the Super Bowl. I've even had the pleasure of seeing Green Day play the Rose Bowl.

More recently, I've watched bands start out on a small stage and work their way up to the main stages by meeting as many fans as possible and continuing to hone their craft while on the tour. Bands like Paramore, A Day To Remember, Sleeping With Sirens, Pierce The Veil, Echosmith, Motionless in White, Black Veil Brides, Every Time I Die, Neck Deep, Beartooth and so many more.